1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to soil samplers for use in determining materials in soil, more particularly the presence of extremely fine particulates, such as asbestos. The present invention is also directed to methods of testing a soil for asbestos content.
2. State of the Art
Asbestos exposure has been linked with various diseases, including lung cancer. Asbestos may be present naturally in soil, however, with mining operations, soil having higher asbestos concentrations may be exposed to the air. Particularly in dry, windy conditions, asbestos exposure is a concern for nearby residents. Cleanup for such a site can be expensive, as the quantity of soil needing removal and/or remediation may be immense. It is necessary to identify sites with asbestos contamination, as well as to identify the sites with the highest level of asbestos concentration.
Soil specimens may be taken quite readily; however, the samples must be tested to determine the level of asbestos content. It may be less cost-prohibitive to extract the asbestos from a soil sample on-site. The asbestos that has been extracted may then be transported and tested in a laboratory facility, rather than transporting the entire soil sample to a testing facility. One conventional method of extracting asbestos from the soil utilizes a glovebox. The soil sample may be gathered in ajar, then the jar may be placed in the glovebox. The glovebox may have a main chamber for handling and manipulating hazardous materials, and gloves, which may be accessed from an exterior of the glovebox, to enable a user to reach into the box and work with the hazardous materials inside, while being separated from the hazardous materials by the gloves. The jar containing the soil sample may be agitated and shaken by a user, and then an air sample may be taken from a headspace of the jar to be analyzed for asbestos.
However, conventional sample collection methods using a glovebox are time intensive, requiring manual manipulation of the soil sample and manual collection of the sampled air. In addition, the test results may be inaccurate due to reliance upon manual agitation of the soil sample. Further, the recovery fraction of asbestos may be too small to provide accurate test results.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a method and a device for collecting an asbestos sample from a soil specimen that requires less manpower, less time, and provides a greater recovery fraction of asbestos.